Kodak shares soar as company launches KODAKCoin cryptocurrency

Shares of Eastman Kodak surged around 130 per cent on Tuesday after the one-time leader in photography became the latest company to jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.

The storied Rochester, New York-based company said in a statement it is launching a cryptocurrency called "KODAKCoin" for photographers, part of "KODAKOne", an image rights management platform launched in a licensing partnership with WENN Digital.

The platform uses blockchain technology, the backbone of Bitcoin and other digital currencies that have surged in recent months and raised fears of a price bubble. The stock was last up 134 per cent at $US7.25 ($9.27) in late-afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange

This is getting ridiculous," said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas. "From a fundamental point of view, none of this makes sense."

The one-time leader in photography film has struggled to transform itself into an imaging software and technology company. Kodak was a Dow Jones Industrials component until April 2004 and has seen its stock slump 90 per cent since emerging from bankruptcy in 2013.

Riot Blockchain shares have tripled since October when the former biotechnology firm changed its name and said it was revising its business focus to bitcoins.